A known packaging system includes a blister package, such as a slide card, which is received in an outer sleeve. Such a packaging system is a convenient packaging format for certain pharmaceutical applications because the blister package can be repeatedly removed from and returned to the outer sleeve in order to dispense unit doses from the blister package. The blister package is also a useful format because it enables a user to track the consumption of doses according to a prescribed schedule. The outer sleeve functions to provide child resistance to the blister package. Specifically, the blister package can be lockably retained within the outer sleeve by a locking mechanism and released from the outer sleeve by a release mechanism. Further, operating the release mechanism requires a set of actions that are counter-intuitive to a child in order to release the blister package from the outer sleeve.
Child resistance is a feature particularly desired for pharmaceutical packaging and, with regard to certain products, is mandated by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970. For example, to achieve a desired child resistance (CR) rating of F=1, the number of subject packages that are compromised by children of a specific age may not exceed a pre-set failure rate. This general guideline is designed to ensure that the package has sufficient integrity against tampering by children.
Although many packaging systems include child-resistant locking features, some packaging systems include an outer sleeve that is structurally weak. Such an outer sleeve can be crushed to disengage the locking mechanism of the outer sleeve without properly operating the release mechanism. Thereby the blister package can be inadvertently released from the outer sleeve to gain access to the medication therein. Further, access to the blister package may be achieved should the end wall of the outer sleeve be compromised to provide an opening, for example, by a child who bites through the end wall of the outer sleeve.
In one effort to resolve this problem, an outer sleeve has been developed that includes a false end wall which provides structural support to the outer sleeve. Thereby, the outer sleeve cannot be crushed to release the blister package from the outer sleeve and a potential opening in an end wall of the outer sleeve is obstructed. However, the manufacturing processes that are necessary to form an outer sleeve having a previously developed false end wall from a blank have proven to be cumbersome and inefficient. For example, during construction of that package the blank must be flipped and rotated to form the outer sleeve after having formed the false bottom. Thus, folding such a blank requires multiple folding sequences that are performed by multiple straight line machines, a single sequence performed by specialized machinery, and/or performed by hand. In any case, the time and expense to form an outer sleeve with a false end wall from such a blank is substantially increased.
Accordingly, there remains in the art a need for a packaging system that facilitates easy access to articles by the intended user and that has an improved inner structure so as to be less susceptible to manipulation by an unintended user, such as a child. Further, there is also a need for a packaging system that is easily and efficiently constructed by a machine-friendly automated process.